Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix odds: Mitrione, Bader early favorites

Bellator is holding a Heavyweight Grand Prix next year, and two somewhat unlikely candidates are the early favorites in terms of betting odds.

Scott Coker is trying to strike gold again with a Grand Prix. After running an eight-man heavyweight tournament in Strikeforce a few years ago (with some uneven results), he’s going to have a second go at it in Bellator next year. The men entered in this iteration of the GP are a motley bunch - former UFC heavyweights, a few light heavyweights, and Fedor Emelianenko - all of which are 34 years of age are older.

Bovada has decided to put out betting odds on each of the four opening fights and prop bets on who will win the whole thing. Honestly, I’m a little surprised at the breakdown for the GP winner. Have a look:

Matt Mitrone +225

Ryan Bader +280

Frank Mir +400

Fedor Emelianenko +600

Roy Nelson +600

Any Alternate Fighter +600

Muhammed Lawal +1100

Chael Sonnen +1400

Quinton Jackson +1600

Mitrione at +225? He was knocked out by first-round opponent Roy Nelson when they met back in 2012. And while I understand that Bader is the youngest and most active fighter in the tournament, he is a light heavyweight after all. Also, three fighters being longer shots to win than an alternate just because an alternate (Daniel Cormier) won the Strikeforce GP is a little odd. But hey, what do I know.

Here are the odds for the first-round bouts:

Quinton Jackson (-155) vs. Chael Sonnen (+125) - January 20th

Frank Mir (-190) Fedor Emelianenko (+155) - February 16th

Matt Mitrione (-175) Roy Nelson (+145) - TBA

Ryan Bader (-260) Muhammed Lawal (+200) - TBA